Institute of Medicine: Drs. Asch, Cooper and FleisherThree Penn professors have recently been elected as members of the Institute of Medicine. The three professors are:

Dr. David A. Asch, Robert D. Eilers Professor of Medicine and Health Care Management and Economics at the School of Medicine and the Wharton School and executive director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics;

Dr. Joel D. Cooper, professor and chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery; and

Dr. Lee A. Fleisher, Robert D. Dripps Professor and chair of the department of anesthesiology and critical care and professor of medicine.

Social Science Award: Dr. Cowan

Dr. Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Janice and Julian Bers Professor and chair of the department of history and sociology of science has been awarded the John Desmond Bernal Prize of the Society for the Social Study of Science. This prize is awarded annually to a scholar who has made distinguished contributions to the field.

Honorary Degree: Dr. Alavi

Dr. Abass Alavi, professor of radiology in the School of Medicine, has been awarded with laurea honoris causa, or an honorary doctorate degree, from the University of Bologna in Italy. The laurea honoris causa is a prestigious academic award given only on rare and special occasions by Italian universities. Dr. Alavi received his degree in medicine and surgery.

Honorary Degree: Mr. Olin

Laurie Olin, practice professor of landscape architecture and regional planning, has received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Franklin and Marshall College. Mr. Olin is also partner at the Olin Partnership in Philadelphia.

Book Award: Ms. BerrizbeitiaAnita Berrizbeitia, associate professor of landscape architecture and associate department chair, has been honored with the 2007 John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize for her work, Roberto Burle Marx in Caracas: Parque del Este, 1956-1961. The prize is awarded for recently published books with significant contributions to the study and understanding of garden history and landscape architecture.

Neuroscience and Law Project Leader: Dr. Morse

Dr. Stephen Morse, Ferdinand Wakeman Hubbell Professor of Law and professor of psychology and law in psychiatry, has been selected as a leader to help lead the Law and Neuroscience Project. The project is designed to integrate new developments in neuroscience into the US legal system and is based at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Morse will be working with other expert scientists, legal scholars, jurists, and philosophers, including former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Robert Redford Row at Zellerbach

On October 10, the Social Planning and Events Committee Film Society (SPEC Films) hosted a pre-release screening of Lions for Lambs in the Zellerbach Theatre of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts—on the largest film screen in the entire Philadelphia region. Lions for Lambs is due in theaters November 2.

Director and actor Robert Redford attended the question and answer session after the screening along with cast members Michael Peña and Andrew Garfield. Dr. Donald Kettl, director of the Fels Institute, moderated.

Afterwards, on behalf of the Board of Overseers of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Overseers Roberta Tanenbaum and Jon Greenawalt, Jr. (C ’91) announced the decision to dedicate row R of the Harold L. Zellerbach Theatre as the Robert Redford Row.

“Robert Redford Row” is in the company of other rows named for famous people, including Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra.

NAACP Search Committee for President: Dr. Berry

Dr. Mary Frances Berry, the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history, has been named a member of the search committee for a president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The committee is being led by Chairman Julian Bond and consists of activists, scholars and business leaders.

Special Master in Arbitration Hearing: Mr. Burbank

Stephen Burbank, the David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice at Penn Law, served as the special master who led the recent arbitration hearing between the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL Players Association, which represented the football player Michael Vick, who pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a dog-fighting operation.

Bike Riding Across the Country to Raise Money for Scholarships

The 3,050-mile Bucknell-Penn Alumni Bike Race Across America for Scholarship, the first such effort by a group of University of Pennsylvania and Bucknell University alumni to raise scholarship funds for each school to support outstanding students from low-income backgrounds. The race also honored the memory of Ed Zolla, W ’68, who had planned to make this ride. The ride began September 9 in Santa Monica, Calif., and ended for the Penn riders on September 27, with a grand entrance onto campus. As the Penn team arrived on Locust Walk at the Sweeten Alumni House they we greeted and cheered; left to right, Ted Lansky, C ’64; Mike Shockro; and Bruce Lederman, W ’64, at the conclusion of their cross-country race. The team rode more than 3,000 miles in 19 days, while raising more that $240,000 in scholarship money for Penn. Seewww.alumnibikerace.com for more information about the cross-country ride or to donate to the scholarship fund.